Side Effects - Too Much TV essays

Side Effects - Too Much TV essays In todays society, it is normal for an American child to watch an average of three to four hours of television daily. Television can be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior in children and teens. Unfortunately, much of todays television programming is loaded with explicit content glamorizing violence, not only on adult crime and dramas, but also in cartoons, comedies, and on the daily news. The effects of TV violence on children and teenagers are that they may be more likely to behave in an aggressive manner, become less sensitive towards others and even become desensitized to the consequence of such violent actions, when viewing violent television. During the toddler years, children begin watching television from an exploration approach while their brains consistently search for a coherent narrative meaning in the violent program in which theyre exposed too. Childrens attention are drawn to the over stimulating frenetic actions in fighting scenes; bold, bright colors in loud explosions, intense and sudden sounds during shoot-out battles generated by the violence on television. So, as a result of exposing children to discombobulating images and dramatic changing sounds during critical periods of brain development may precondition the mind to expect high levels of stimulation. This may potentially also then set the pace of real life for the child making it difficult to sustain the childs attention. Elementary school age (ages six to eleven) is considered a critical period for understanding the effects of television on aggression. At this young age, children develop the attention span and cognitive ability to understand as well as follow continuous plots, to make inferences about implicit content and to recognize motivations and consequences to characters action. There is a saying, children are smarter than you think. Children begin t...